The judge assigned to hear the case of a 25-year-old Morgan County man accused of murdering an elderly couple at their Ivy Bend home has been moved to a neighboring county on a change of venue.

Wayne, 82, and Mable Wells, 71, were found brutally murdered in their Ivy Bend home on Dec. 4, 2012. Within days of the crime, Ronald Blowers, 25, was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder.

Blowers has since pleaded not guilty to the charges. Although the case was originally assigned to Circuit Court Judge Stan Moore, it has recently been turned over to Judge Kenneth Hayden.

Now the case will be moving to Laclede County following a ruling by Hayden. A trial date has not been set.

He is being held in the Morgan County Adult Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

Blowers was arrested on Tuesday, Dec. 4, after running from police when they went to question him about a pistol that had been stolen from his neighbor's home, located about a mile from the Wells' Ivy Bend residence. As officers approached Blowers, the he allegedly brandished a knife at officers while in his driveway and began stabbing himself repeatedly in the stomach.

Blowers allegedly told officers, "I did not mean to do it," before running into the woods and leading police on a lengthy foot pursuit.

When he was finally taken into custody, he was taken to the hospital for treatment. In an interview after the incident at the Morgan County Sheriff's Office, Blowers admitted to being present at the Wells' home during the alleged homicide and admitted to using a pipe, knife and screwdriver to inflict injuries on the victims, as stated in the probable cause statement filed with the Morgan County court.